FAQ
※ Project proposal submitted after April 24 will be considered for selection in the following year.
Yes. It is possible.
Forming a consortium with overseas partner organizations (central and local governments, public institutions, universities) is a prerequisite.
Therefore, applications for verification with overseas private companies without overseas partner organizations will be excluded from selection.
Foreign companies can also participate in forming a consortium, provided that overseas partner organizations are in the consortium. However, since the purpose of this project is to support domestic companies' overseas expansion, overseas partner organizations and overseas companies are not eligible for direct government subsidies.
Participating companies (institutions) other than the host organization are not required, so the host organization can apply alone under the premise of a consortium with an overseas partner organization.
The host organization (domestic company) can apply alone under the premise of forming a consortium with an overseas partner organization, and there are no restrictions on the company size of the host organization.
In the contest guidelines, applicants are specified as ‘domestic companies or organizations that have smart solutions developed and proven domestically and wish to expand overseas.’ Requirements such as membership in the Smart City Association or product registration are not specified.
According to the competition guidelines, the target solutions are only 'smart solutions developed and applied domestically and desired to be verified overseas', so it is also possible to apply for projects based on the performance of other organizations' projects.
Please check the host organization requirements in the contest guidelines.
– Possesses a smart solution developed and proven domestically (page 2 of contest guidelines)
– Domestic companies with overseas verification experience or preparing for overseas verification (Page 2 of the public offering guidelines)
– The host organization is designated as the organization with the highest government subsidy support rate among participating organizations.
The applicant organization must directly consult with government agencies or universities in the country subject to overseas verification.
(MOLIT or KAIA does not separately recruit or designate verification countries in advance.)
There is no support for the applicant's application for the K-City Network overseas demonstration project, such as matching institutions or connecting with overseas cooperation institutions.
Local public enterprises are also included.
If you look at the 'Target Cities' section on page 2 of the contest guidelines, it is stated that 'overseas cities that have prepared preliminary feasibility or conceptual design or are willing to apply domestic technology'. Therefore, even if the city that is pursuing verification does not have a conceptual design in place, it can be supported as a target city if it is willing to apply domestic technology. Additionally, there are no additional points for overseas cities for which preliminary feasibility or conceptual design has been prepared.
The contest guidelines only specify overseas partner organizations as central and local governments, public institutions, and universities, but do not specify the size or level of recognition of the organizations.
The competition guidelines only state that submission of an MOU or LOI by overseas partner organizations (central/local governments, public institutions, universities) is required, and no distinction is made between the two documents during screening, so the applicant organization can submit within the application period. Please select the document available.
Overseas partner organizations specified in the notice include central and local governments, public institutions, and universities. Since it is limited, an MOU signed with a university in the relevant country (or an LOI written by the university) is possible. However, applications cannot be made with MOUs or LOIs signed with overseas branches of associations or domestic public institutions.
Since it is unclear whether the overseas partner organization will participate in the applicant's overseas verification project, it is not possible to apply for a project with an MOU or LOI secured through the method you requested. Therefore, only MOUs concluded directly between the applicant (host organization) and overseas partner organizations (or LOIs from overseas partner organizations written directly to the host organization) can be recognized.
They must be submitted together, and there is no extension of the application period, so please be sure to submit all documents, including the MOU (or LOI), within the application period (by 3:19 on March 17).
All documents, including the MOU (or LOI), must be submitted within the application period (until 3:19 on March 17), so later submission of the MOU (or LOI) is not possible.
Please review whether overseas partner organizations can participate in the K-City Network project and whether matching funds and verification targets can be confirmed and sign an MOU/LOI with an overseas partner organization that can promote the project more effectively.
You can apply for a project even if you do not have any overseas smart city project results.
However, domestic and overseas business performance is subject to qualitative evaluation during the written evaluation. (Refer to pages 5-6 of the contest guidelines)
Smart solutions are proposed by the applicant and there is no separate list.
(The list on page 1 of the contest guidelines is an example.)
If you believe it does not fall outside the category of 'smart solutions that can improve the quality of life of citizens and urban management efficiency' specified in the contest guidelines, you can freely apply regardless of the type or characteristics of the solution.
There are no separate restrictions on one host organization making multiple public offering proposals.
There are no application restrictions for companies (institutions) that have carried out or are currently carrying out K-City Network overseas demonstration projects in the current public offering guidelines. However, please keep in mind that it is specified in the contest that demonstrating solutions that have already been demonstrated in the same demonstration country will be excluded from selection (see page 2 of the contest guidelines).
There are no restrictions on companies (institutions) that have carried out or are currently carrying out K-City Network overseas demonstration projects applying for other solutions in the same country. If you demonstrate your proven solution in another country, there are no application restrictions.
Since the contest guidelines only have restrictions on proven solutions and countries, you are free to apply for solutions and countries that were not selected in previous projects.
As specified in 'Target Solution' on page 2 of the contest guidelines, if it is a 'smart solution that can improve the quality of life of citizens and improve urban management efficiency', relevant performance certificates can be submitted without restrictions on the type of solution.
it's possible. However, this applies only to cases carried out in the past 10 years for overseas projects and in the last 5 years for domestic projects.
(Refer to page 6 of the contest guidelines)
Even if the distinction between personnel and material is unclear, it is impossible to recognize the performance of the applicant's affiliated companies as additional points if they are separated by corporate personality.
Rather than granting additional points for participation performance, additional points are recognized only in the case of follow-up verification of an MOU (LOI) officially signed at an event hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (WSCE, local road show, Korean pavilion at SCEWC in Barcelona, etc.). (Refer to page 8 of the contest guidelines)
At the time of selection, the cost of overseas verification (KRW 2 million to KRW 4 million per case) is supported to the selected domestic companies (including domestic companies formed in the consortium), and the cost is not directly supported to overseas partner organizations or overseas companies.
Please refer to ‘Budget-related notes’ on page 3 of the contest guidelines and ‘Notes’ on page 11.
Labor costs can be calculated up to 40% of the government subsidy.
There are no separate restrictions on other expenses in the competition guidelines.
In-kind matching is possible, and there are no separate restrictions on the proportion of matching funds from companies or overseas partner organizations.
It is not necessary for the matching amount and government support amount to be the same, but please note that additional points are given depending on the size of the matching amount during the selection evaluation (see page 8 of the contest guidelines).
There is no obligation for matching funds from companies and overseas partner organizations, but as mentioned earlier, there are additional points depending on the size of the matching funds.
This refers to the amount of matching funds from the domestic company (institution) that is the applicant.
Because the K-City Network business is not an R&D business, it is not subject to R&D business regulations.
In the budget-related notes on page 3 of the contest guidelines, it is stated that “the host organization (representative organization) is designated as the organization with the highest government subsidy support ratio among participating organizations.” Therefore, the government support ratio of the participating institution cannot be higher than that of the host institution.
Overseas travel expenses for fieldwork, solution installation, and verification can also be accounted for as direct government subsidy expenses.
Since all application solutions and demonstration plans are reviewed fairly according to procedures, there is no country or service that has an advantage in selection.
If you have plans for expansion, regardless of whether it is a demonstration project site or to another region (country), please enter them in detail.
It is operated as a one-year project, and contracts for the projects selected this time will be signed from May to December of this year. (Approximately 5 months from the time of signing the contract)
There is no mandatory local stay period during the business period.
K-City Network overseas demonstration projects are not R&D projects, so they are not subject to R&D business regulations.
Please refer to ‘Ownership of results and general information’ on page 13 of the competition guidelines.
– Ownership of the tangible and intangible results generated as a result of project performance may be owned solely or jointly by the executing agency as determined by the contract.
Since the applicant for this project is a domestic company (organization), all application documents must be completed in Korean.
There is no restriction.
The Lead Organization of the Consortium shall be a Korean organization or corporation, which has demonstration experience overseas, or is preparing for a demonstration outside Korea, and and other Korean organizations or corporations are able to participate under the lead organization’s responsibility.
The lead organization is required to form a consortium with an international partner organization which shall be an organization that carries out the demonstration on the ground (e.g., government, public organization, university) and has to submit the Letter of Intent or the Memorandum of Understanding. (If it is not submitted, the application will be excluded on the project selection process.)
An international parner organization shall be a government or a public organization, or an university, but not a private corporation. Thus, a participation commitment(MOU or LOI) signed by a foreign private corporation will be rejected.
Submission is not mandatory. However, specifying the relevant contents in the application or submitting the report itself will be helpful to understand the project for the evaluation process.
The amount of contract supporting each project is subject to change according to the selection results.
There will be additional points to be given in the case of corporate matching funds from Korean companies or international financing from the candidate country. Please refer to the Chapter Ⅲ. Evaluation Process and Selection Criteria described in the public notice.
The project expenses will be distributed directly to the lead organization (Korean company) of the consortium.
There is no limit to the solution area, but you can freely present the solution. However, it should be a solution that grafts smart city technology, platform, system, etc. to solve problems in the city alone or in package form.
When the solution project is carried out without setting a certain region at the national level, the purpose of smart city solutions cannot be fulfilled properly. Therefore, if possible, please provide the appropriate area for the solution to be applied.